Elisabeth Moss fulfilled one of her long-held dreams when she became a parent.
“I do want to be a mother,” Moss told Marie Claire UK in May 2018. “I like the idea of passing on what my mother passed on to me. It’s not for everybody, and I didn’t know if it was going to be for me, but lately, I think it is. I have no idea how I want to do it, though, or what the plan is.”
At the time, Moss explained that she wasn’t focused on dating.
“It’s actually a problem,” Moss, who was previously married to Fred Armisen for one year in 2009, told the outlet. “But I’m very focused on my work, so it’s difficult to find the time to give yourself to somebody. I have nothing against getting married again, but what I value even more now is the relationship itself. … I’m a romantic, so I love weddings, but I also don’t think you need [a wedding] to have a long-lasting, healthy relationship.”
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The Handmaid’s Tale star revealed six years later that she was pregnant with her first baby. After quietly giving birth, Moss brought her little one to the Hulu set. (The actress has not publicly revealed her child’s name, sex or the identity of their father.)
“The main thing that happened on the first day of set is that I got to meet Lizzie as a mother,” Moss’ Handmaid’s Tale TV husband, O-T Fagbenle, told The Hollywood Reporter in March 2025. “This show is so much about people and their children and about motherhood and what it is to give birth — and Lizzie went through that. I was just so happy for her.”
Keep scrolling for Moss’ rare insights about motherhood:
Baby on Set
During an appearance at 2025 PaleyFest LA, Moss also explained what it was like to have her child join her on the set of The Handmaid’s Tale.
“The only thing I would say about that is I feel so fortunate to be able to do that,” Moss told reporters that March. “So many parents cannot. So that’s what we always say. Any of us who had the privilege of being able to bring our kids or see our kids at work, we would every single time be like, ‘Aren’t we lucky to get to do that?’”
A Shift in ‘Perspective’
In May 2024, Moss told Business Insider that she thought it’d “be lovely” to bring her baby to the set of The Handmaid’s Tale.
“I think it’ll be a whole new added perspective to life,” Moss predicted. “I’m sure I’ll be bringing that to [my character] June and to the show. … We’re used to having lots of babies and lots of moms and dads on set, and we’re a very baby and kid-friendly set. So I don’t think it’s going to be a huge adjustment for us.”
Moss has starred as June Osborn (a.k.a. a handmaid known as Offred) for all six seasons of The Handmaid’s Tale, which was adapted from Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel of the same name. The futuristic story takes place after the United States was overthrown by a religious group named Gilead, which takes extreme action to address the nation’s declining birth rates. Onscreen, June is mother to Hannah and Nichole.
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The Impact on ‘Handmaid’s Tale’ Production
Moss told Entertainment Tonight in April 2025 that she was more emotional filming Handmaid’s Tale season 6 as a mother.
“I feel like I approached [my character] in a more intellectual way,” she said. “I definitely had a more emotional experience this season. It’s hard not to draw parallels.”
While speaking to ET, Moss also quipped that her best-received piece of advice was to “sleep when they sleep.”
Pregnancy Update
Moss announced her pregnancy and debuted her baby bump on an episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! in January 2024.
“Are you pregnant or just an incredibly committed method actor?” host Jimmy Kimmel joked, to which Moss responded, “A little bit of both.”
Moss further said that she had been “incredibly lucky” during her pregnancy.
“It’s been going really well,” she added.
